Transcript Vocabulary Building

Vocabulary Building
Steps
1. Increase your vocabulary by learning to use
CONTEXT CLUES, so that you can teach yourself
new words every time you read.
2. Increase your vocabulary by learning to use WORD
PARTS so that you can figure out word meaning by
looking at their prefixes, suffixes and roots.
3. READ WIDELY, READ A VARIETY OF THINGS so
that you will be exposed to thousands of new words
each month. Keep a vocabulary journal to record
the interesting words you find, or make word cards
so that you can see your vocabulary growing.
Context Clues - Synonyms
Context clues are often found in the
form of synonyms: words that mean the
same as the unknown word.
Synonyms may be purposely included
by an author to help readers understand
a less familiar word.
Context Clues (examples) Synonyms
1. Are you averse—opposed to—the
decision?
2. His naiveté, or innocence, was obvious.
3. The salesperson tried to assuage the
angry customer’s feeling, but there was no
way to soothe her.
Context Clues - Antonyms
Antonyms—words and phrases that
mean the opposite of the word – are
also useful as context clues.
Antonyms are often signaled by words
and phrases such as however, but, yet,
on the other hand, and in contrast.
Context Clues (examples) Antonyms
1. My sister Ann is lively and outgoing; however, I
am rather introverted.
2. Religions in America are not static, but changing,
especially in this period of shifting values.
3. Many people have pointed out the harmful effects
that a working mother may have on the family, yet
there are many salutary effects as well.
Word Parts
Words can be made of combination of
different parts called
ROOTS (or BASES),
PREFIXES, and SUFFIXES.
Word Parts
Roots, prefixes, and suffixes have their
own separate meaning and can be
looked up individually in a dictionary.
These meanings suggest the overall
meanings of the words they compose.
Word Parts - Prefix
A PREFIX is a letter of group of letters
that come at the beginning of a word.
A prefix alters the meaning of a word.
Word Parts - Prefix
For example, adding the prefix un to the
word “happy” changes the meaning of
“happy” to the opposite of happy.
In addition, sometimes adding a prefix
changes the part of speech.
Word Parts - Prefix
An example of this adding the prefix dis
to the adjective “able” which produces
the verb “disable.”
Because of their significant impact on
root words, prefixes are the most
frequent word part studied.
Word Parts - Suffix
A SUFFIX is a word part added to the
end of the word.
It does not generally alter a word’s
meaning, but it will often change a word
from one part of speech to another.
For example, when the suffix -ness is
placed after the adjective “kind,” the
results is the noun “kindness.”
Word Parts - Root
A ROOT is a basic word to which
prefixes and suffixes can be added.
It cannot be further separated into parts
and is fairly constant in form and
meaning.
It can be found at the beginning, middle,
or end of a word.
Word Parts
Be aware that there are times when a
group of letters appears to be a prefix,
suffix, or root, but it is not.
For instance, the prefix anti- means
“against” or “opposite of” as in
“antisocial.”
However, anti- is not a prefix in the
work “anticipate” or “antique.”
Word Parts
Learning word parts is very useful in
building one’s vocabulary.
Roots and prefixes come from Greek
and Latin words.
One Latin or Greek word may provide
the clue to a dozen or more English
words.
Read to Improve your
Vocabulary
If you read minutes a day, you will read
millions of words per year
Minutes per Day
Words per Year
14.2
1,146,000
21.1
1,823,000
65.0
4,358,000
Read to Improve your
Vocabulary
4. Read consistently -- everyday
5. You can stop reading a book before finishing
it and choose another one.
6. Read books that are challenging to improve
your vocabulary.
7. Keep an informal daily journal of your
reading.
How to Make a Word Study
Card
Write the word in bold letters on one side
of an index card
vacillate
How to Make a Word Study
Card
On the other side of the index card write:
Vacillate: to waver
verb (part of speech)
Connie’s parents usually came to a decision quickly and
stuck by them. This time they vacillated before deciding.
(a sentence the word appeared in)
Synonym: waver
antonym: decide quickly
Any other interesting information you can find
Use Your New Words
USE your new words that you learned
from time to time in conversations and
in your writings.